Wheatland ends Las Plumas football team's two-game win streak

The Las Plumas High football team, after winning two straight games that left the Thunderbirds tied with Sutter for first place in the Butte View League, found that out Friday night as Wheatland left Harrison Stadium with a 48-13 victory.

The Pirates' high-octane, hurry-up, hybrid version of the wing-T offense was too much for the hosts as quarterback Jackson Hopking threw for four touchdowns, two each to Jordan Samson and Joel Johnson.

Las Plumas (2-4, 2-1 BVL) couldn't keep up, getting a 36-yard touchdown catch from Jeffrey McKeehan with 12 seconds left in the first half. But that cut the Wheatland advantage to 28-7 and the Thunderbirds would get no closer on their homecoming night.

"Without experience of success, maybe we just didn't know how to deal with it. It was a good lesson for us to learn. You have to come out ready to play every week," Las Plumas coach Dave Morris said.

Numerous false starts and other penalties with a few turnovers mixed in didn't help the hosts' cause, either.

"We knew it was going to be a tougher game than our last two," McKeehan said.

The Thunderbirds emphatically ended a 13-game losing streak with a 28-0 victory over rival Oroville in the teams' annual Victory Bell game and then went on the road for a 28-14 triumph against Winters last week.

On Friday, though, the highlights were much fewer in number.

McKeehan, a junior, made a nice adjustment on his TD, giving LP some hope and a bit of momentum going into halftime, trailing 28-7.

"I was supposed to a run a nine route, but I saw the safety and cornerback and I just split them in half," he said of his score that came on a third-and-22 play.

Wheatland (5-1, 2-1 BVL) struck first on the game's opening drive as the Pirates played a hurry-up style, lining up on the ball basically as soon as it was spotted. On the drive's eighth play, Hopking hit Samson on a 34-yard pass down the left sideline that was eventually ruled a touchdown after one official ruled for a score and another ruled Samson was out of bounds near the goal line.

Even the Pirates' own assistants in the booth were sure Samson was out of bounds, but it still went for a TD and a 6-0 Wheatland lead with 9:29 left in the first quarter.

"We were on our heels pretty much the whole night. They got on the board quick," Morris said.

The Pirates, who beat Oroville 41-12 in the first of consecutive trips to Harrison Stadium last week, kept at it, parlaying a successful fake punt for a first down six plays later into a 20-yard TD catch for Johnson with 3:39 left in the second quarter and a 28-0 lead.

While Hopking and his receivers got Wheatland into the end zone, the ground game was also just as effective. Mark Campos had a 79-yard TD run with 8:05 left in the second quarter for a 21-0 lead. Campos, Austin Cooper and Michael Robinson all ran for more than 70 yards each.

The Thunderbirds, trailing 48-7 after Mike Woods' 53-yard interception return for a touchdown with 9:55 left in the game, got a second score on A.J. Cahee's 19-yard TD catch from Jess Little with 2:16 left.